Why You Should Make Homemade Pasta from Scratch

You can make tastier, better noodles at home.

The Italians have been making pasta for countless generations. It doesn’t take as long as you might think, and it makes a huge difference in the taste of your meal. Store-bought, fresh noodles are a high-end delicacy, but you can save yourself the trip to the market.

Why would you want to do this?

Fresh pasta cooks faster and is superior to its dried counterpart in taste and texture. Making noodles is a great medium for creativity in the kitchen once you’re used to making the dough.

Is there an easier way?

A pasta rolling machine makes the process much more consistent. It usually comes with cutters for certain types of noodles. The machine and any additional attachments you may want are expensive.

How is this different from the store-bought version?

Homemade pasta has different “mouthfeel” and taste than dried pasta, and you need to cook it carefully so it doesn’t become overcooked and gummy (the recommendation of cooking pastaal dentecomes from cooking fresh noodles).

Cost comparison:

This recipe makes 1 pound of pasta (enough for our family of four) and the ingredients cost less than 1 pound of fresh packaged pasta.

Skills needed:

A comfort level with cooking from scratch or a willingness to experiment and deal with a few initial failures.

This article was excerpted with permission from the book Urban Farm Projects: Making the Most of Your Money, Space, and Stuff, copyright 2014, I-5 Publishing, LLC. For more budget-friendly and environmentally conscience projects and recipes, pick up a copy today!